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Can Kids Have Bipolar Disorder?
Parents often ask me if their child has bipolar disorder because of their mood swings. Well, kids can't be diagnosed with bipolar very easily. Often, it requires a psychiatrist to do that full evaluation.
It's actually quite rare for a child to be diagnosed with true bipolar disorder, as it normally is not diagnosed until late teen or early adult years. There are other mood disorders, though, that can present like what some people think bipolar is.
What Is Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)?
One of these mood disorders is called Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, or DMDD. It's actually a pretty new diagnosis and is usually diagnosed in children between the ages of 6 and 10 years old.
The hallmark symptoms of DMDD are that the child will be irritable or angry most of the day and be in this angry mood pretty much every single day. They will have severe temper outbursts that are out of proportion to the situation that triggered the tantrum, and these happen at least three times a week.
These behaviors will also interfere with the child's ability to function on a daily basis because of the severity of the symptoms at home, at school, or even with their friends. These symptoms also have to have lasted at least a year.
Diagnosing DMDD and Related Conditions
Like other mood disorders, the child will need to be evaluated by a psychiatrist to see if they have DMDD.
Kids with DMDD can also have ADHD, anxiety, or Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and sometimes it's tricky to figure out what the actual primary diagnosis is.
Since this is a pretty new diagnosis in the psychiatric world, there's not a ton of research. What research there is shows that kids who have DMDD respond well to talk therapy, such as cognitive behavior therapy and dialectical behavior therapy.
Effective Treatments: Therapy, Medication, and Parent Training
Cognitive behavior therapy is what most people think about when they think of therapy: talking through emotions with a counselor and learning coping skills.
Dialectical behavior therapy is basically cognitive behavior therapy, but for people who have extreme emotional changes. Therapy teaches them how to short-circuit these intense emotional outbursts.
Medications for anxiety, ADHD, and mood disorders are also helpful for DMDD, but they should be managed by a psychiatrist to ensure that they are the correct medications for the situation, as these are not FDA-approved for DMDD at this time.
Another important treatment step is parent training. It's hard to parent a child who has DMDD. A mental health specialist can help parents learn what to do when their child is in a full-blown DMDD outburst and how to help their child through the therapy process.
If you think your child may have DMDD, ask your child's pediatrician to help you find a child psychiatrist who can help.
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